Incentive spirometer cap

ABSTRACT

An incentive spirometer medical device having a mouth piece protected by an enclosure when not in use and being able to be operated by one hand to open to access the mouth piece.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to medical devices and more particularlyto an incentive spirometer.

BACKGROUND

At present, it is common for patients in hospitals to be given aspirometer, such as the incentive spirometer after surgery. An incentivespirometer is a medical device used to help patients improve thefunctioning of their lungs. It is provided to patients whom have hadsurgery that might jeopardize respiratory function, particularly surgeryto the lungs themselves, but also commonly to patients recovering fromcardiac or other surgery involving extended time under anaesthesia andprolonged in-bed recovery. The incentive spirometer is also issued topatients recovering from pneumonia or rib damage to help minimize thechance of fluid build-up in the lungs. It can be used as well innon-medical applications, such as by wind instrument players, who wantto improve their air flow.

The patient breathes in from the device as slowly and as deeply aspossible, and then holds their breath for 2-6 seconds. This providesinspiratory pressure which opens the alveoli. An indicator of how muchinspiratory volume is occurring and assists in quantifying the effort ofthe patient and their ability to breathe deeply. The patient isgenerally asked to do many repetitions every hour while awake whilemeasuring their progress by way of the gauge.

When the spirometer is not in use it is simply placed on a table, bed,or other surface. A problem exists, because spirometers do not havecovers for the mouth piece portion that is inserted into patient'smouths. Also, patient's visitors, nurses, doctors, and other health careproviders are also vectors for transmitting viral or bacterial infectiononto the mouthpiece. Thus, virus and bacteria may soil the mouth pieceby people (including the user) touching the mouth piece portion or bydropping the spirometer on the floor. Further, when patients changerooms, their belongings are often placed in a bag that is put on the bedas the bed is moved. Once again the mouth piece portion may be incontact with undesirable and unclean items and surfaces. Yet another waythe mouth piece may become dirty or infected, is people in the roomcoughing and sneezing. When hospitalized patients obtain a secondaryinfection, or a super infection, it prolongs their hospital stay,hospital cost, and increase the duration of overall healthcaretreatment.

As such, there is a need for an approach to protect the mouth piece ofan incentive spirometer when it is not in a patient's mouth. It is withrespect to these and other considerations that the disclosure madeherein is presented.

SUMMARY

It would be desirable to protect the mouth piece of the incentivespirometer using an enclosure that is able to be operated by impaired orrecovering individuals. The enclosure may be opened by a patient usingone hand and closed use. The enclosure also needs to be secured to theincentive spirometer in both the open and closed position to prevent theenclosure from be dropped (contaminated) or lost. The enclosure for theincentive spirometer may also be composed of anti-bacteria material ormaterial coated with anti-bacterial property to provide additionalprotection.

In another embodiment, an opening may be incorporated into the incentivespirometer, such that the mouth piece is inserted into the incentivespirometer housing. The void may be coated anti-bacterial materialand/or ultraviolet lighting may be used to reduce or remove bacteriathat may exist on the incentive spirometer's mouthpiece.

Therefore, the above approach addresses the unmet need in themarketplace by elimination of unprotected incentive spirometer mouthpieces and in the process decreasing the risk of infection in patients.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred features of the present invention will now be described,purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a known incentive spirometer.

FIG. 2 illustrates the incentive spirometer of FIG. 1 with a protectiveenclosure in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 3 illustrates the incentive spirometer of FIG. 1 with anotherembodiment of an enclosure in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 4 illustrates an incentive spirometer housing having a recessdefined by the housing for storage of the mouth piece of the incentivespirometer in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 5 illustrates an incentive spirometer housing of FIG. 4, where themouth piece extends from the recess defined by the housing.

FIG. 6 illustrates an incentive spirometer housing of FIG. 5, where themouth piece extends from the recess defined by the housing.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of the method of use of the incentivespirometer of FIG. 5 in accordance with an example implementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1, an illustration of a known incentive spirometer 100 isdepicted. The spirometer 100 has a housing 102 with a hose 106 connectedto the housing and mouth piece 104 at the end of the hose 106. A patientis given incentive spirometer 100 to use in a hospital after anoperation an instructed to place the mouth piece 104 in their mouth andinhales slowly and as deeply as possible ten times every hour. A float108 moves in response to the inhaling action and the sustainedinhalation vacuum that may be recorded using marker 110. A hand hold isdefined by opening 112 in housing 102.

Turing to FIG. 2, an illustration of the incentive spirometer of FIG. 1with a protective enclosure 202 in accordance with an exampleimplementation of the invention is depicted. The enclosure 202 is formedso it clips to the bottom portion 204 of mouth piece without going fullyaround bottom portion 204, while completely enclosing lip portion 206 ofthe mouth piece 104. The mouth piece 104 is coupled to a first end ofthe hose 106 and the second end of the hose 106 is coupled to thehousing 102. A patient may use a single hand to pry off the clippedenclosure 202 using their thumb. Similarly a patient may clip on theenclosure 202 to the mouth piece 104 using a single hand. The enclosure202 is secured to the spirometer 100 via ring 208 and tether 210. Thetether 210 and ring 208 may be integrated together in someimplementations. In other implementations, the tether 210 may beintegrated the hose 106. The housing 102 may be formed out of a plasticmaterial, such as a polymer.

The enclosure 202 may be made out a solid material such of plastic,glass, or other mouldable substances. The mouldable substances maycontain anti-bacterial material such as silver or other anti-bacterialadditives, such as BIOMASTER. A common name for such substances isanti-bacterial polymers.

In FIG. 3, an illustration of the incentive spirometer 100 of FIG. 1with anther embodiment of an enclosure 302 in accordance with an exampleimplementation of the invention is depicted. The enclosure 302 is biasedin a closed position around the mouth piece 104. A connector member 304and 306 enable a spring or elastic material 308 to be secured to theenclosure 302 and mouth piece 104. When the enclosure 302 is pulled back(towards the hose 106), the mouth piece 104 is exposed for use. Thespring or elastic material 308 is stretched exerting a closing orcovering force on the enclosure 302. When the enclosure 302 is released,it automatically covers the mouth piece 104 of the spirometer.

As previously explained, anti-bacterial polymers or coatings may beemployed on or in the enclosure 302.

Turning to FIG. 4, an illustration of an incentive spirometer housing402 having a recess 414 defined by the housing 402 for storage of themouth piece 404 in the spirometer 400 in accordance with an exampleimplementation of the invention is depicted. The housing 402 is formedor moulded with a recess 414 large enough to place the mouthpiece 404into. The hose 406 may be connected to the mouth piece 404 while it isin recess 214. In other implementations, the mouth piece 404 may beremoved from hose 406 and stored in the recess 414. In otherimplementations, at least the portion of the housing 402 forming recess414 is made out of an anti-bacterial polymer.

A patient is given incentive spirometer 400 to use in a hospital afteran operation an instructed to inhale from the mouth piece 404 ten timesevery hour. A float 408 moves in response to the inhaling action and maybe recorded using marker 110. A hand hold is defined by opening 412 inhousing 402.

In FIG. 5, an illustration of an incentive spirometer housing 402 ofFIG. 4, where the mouth piece 404 extends from the recess 414 defined bythe housing 402 of spirometer 400 is depicted in accordance with anexample implementation of the invention. The mouth piece 404 is coupledto a first end of a coiled or stretchable hose 406 and rests in recess414. The second end of the hose 406 is coupled to housing 402. Therecess 414 is covered by a cap 504 that held in place by friction in thecurrent implementation. In other implementations, other known approachesfor securing the cap may be employed, including threads, tabs, etc. . .. The cap 504 is secured to the housing 402 via a connector 502. Theconnector 502 may be formed out of the same material as the cap 504,such as a polymer. In other implementations, a ring may be associatedwith the cap where the cap is secured to a ring by a tab 502 and thering secured to the housing 402. In yet other implementations, the hosebe of a fixed length and further extend into the base of the spirometer400.

Turning to FIG. 6, an illustration of the incentive spirometer housing402 of FIG. 5, where the mouth piece 404 extends from the recess 414defined by the housing 402 is depicted in accordance with an exampleimplementation of the invention. A switch 602 is coupled to a powersupply 604 and ultra-violet light emitting diodes (ULEDs) 606 (only oneis shown in FIG. 6, but in practice more may be in recess 414). TheULEDs 606 illuminate the recess 414 with ultra-violet light whenswitched on by switch 602 using current from power supply 604. Theultra-violate light from the ULEDs 606 then kills and/or inhibitsbacteria and virus growth that may be present on the mouth piece 404.The wave length of the ULEDs may be 365 nm (manufactured by NichiaCorporation, wavelength 365 nm, output 15 mW/cm²) in the currentimplementation. The power supply 604 may be implemented with batteries,such as alkaline, or NiMH, Lithium-metal, lead acid, gel-cell, or otherelectric generating approaches. A cap 504 and connector 502 are showncovering the recess 414.

In FIG. 7, a flow diagram of the approach of using the incentivespirometer 400 of FIG. 5 is depicted in accordance with an exampleimplementation. A patient starts using the spirometer 400 by opening thecap 504 in step 702. The patient then pulls out the mouth piece 404 thatis coupled to tube 402 from recess 414 in step 704. The patient theninhales ten times from the mouth piece 404 in step 706. The mouth piece404 and hose 406 are then pushed back into recess 414 in step 708 whenfinished. The cap 504 is then replaced in step 710.

It will be understood that the present invention has been describedabove purely by way of example, and modification of detail can be madewithin the scope of the invention. Each feature disclosed in thedescription, and (where appropriate) the claims and drawings may beprovided independently or in any appropriate combination.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A medical device, comprising: a hose havinga first end and a second end; a mouthpiece coupled to a first end of thehose; a protective enclosure that is capable of covering the mouthpieceand the protective enclosure is movably coupled to the hose; and anincentive spirometer coupled to the second end of the hose.
 2. Themedical device of claim 1, where the protective enclosure is coupled tothe hose with a tether.
 3. The medical device of claim 1, where theprotective enclosure is securable to the mouthpiece via friction.
 4. Themedical device of claim 1, where the protective enclosure is slidablysecured around the hose and is capable of covering the mouthpiece. 5.The medical device of claim 1, where the protective enclosure is apolymer protective enclosure having antibacterial properties.
 6. Themedical device of claim 1, where the mouthpiece is integrated with thefirst end of the hose.
 7. The medical device of claim 1, where theprotective enclosure is a polymer housing with antibacterial properties.